81. Root Cause
of Fear Nisargadatta:
Where do you come from? Questioner:
I am from the United States, but I live mostly in Europe. To India I
came recently. I was
in Rishikesh, in two Ashrams. I was taught meditation and breathing.
Nisargadatta:
How long were you there?
Questioner:
Eight days in one, six days in another. I was not happy there and I
left. Then for three weeks I
was with the Tibetan Lamas. But they were all wrapped up in formulas and
rituals.
Nisargadatta:
And what was the net result of it all?
Questioner:
Definitely there was an increase of energy. But before I left for
Rishikesh, I did some fasting
and dieting at a Nature Cure Sanatorium at Pudukkotai in South India. It
has done me enormous
good.
Nisargadatta:
Maybe the access of energy was due to better health.
Questioner:
I cannot say. But as a result of all these attempts some fires started
burning in various places in
my body and I heard chants and voices where there were none.
Nisargadatta:
And what are you after now?
Questioner:
Well, what are we all after? Some truth, some inner certainty, some real
happiness. In the
various schools of self-realisation there is so much talk of awareness,
that one ends with the
impression that awareness itself is the supreme reality. Is it so? The
body is looked after by the
brain, the brain is illumined by consciousness; awareness watches over
consciousness; is there
anything beyond awareness?
Nisargadatta:
How do you know that you are aware?
Questioner:
I feel that I am. I cannot express it otherwise.
Nisargadatta:
When you follow it up carefully from brain through consciousness to
awareness, you find that
the sense of duality persists. When you go beyond awareness, there is a
state of non-duality, in
which there is no cognition, only pure being, which may be as well
called non-being, if by being you
mean being something in particular.
Questioner:
What you call pure being is it universal being, being everything?
Nisargadatta:
Everything implies a collection of particulars. In pure being the very
idea of the particular is
absent.
Questioner:
Is there any relationship between pure being and particular being?
Nisargadatta:
What relationship can there be between what is and what merely appears
to be? Is there any
relationship between the ocean and its waves? The real enables the
unreal to appear and causes it
to disappear. the succession of transient moments creates the illusion
of time, but the timeless
reality of pure being is not in movement, for all movement requires a
motionless background. It is
itself the background. Once you have found it in yourself, you know that
you had never lost that
independent being, independent of all divisions and separations. But
don't look for it in
consciousness, you will not find it there. Don't look for it anywhere,
for nothing contains it. On the
contrary, it contains everything and manifests everything. It is like
the daylight that makes
everything visible while itself remaining invisible.
Questioner:
Sir, of what use to me is your telling me that reality cannot be found
in consciousness? Where
else am I to look for it? How do you apprehend it?
Nisargadatta:
It is quite simple. If I ask you what is the taste of your mouth all you
can do is to say: it is neither
sweet nor bitter, nor sour nor astringent; it is what remains when all
these tastes are not. Similarly,
when all distinctions and reactions are no more, what remains is
reality, simple and solid.
Questioner:
All that I understand is that I am in the grip of a beginningless
illusion. And I do not see how it
can come to an end. If it could, it would -- long ago. I must have had
as many opportunities in the
past as I shall have in the future. What could not happen cannot happen.
Or, if it did, it could not
last. Our very deplorable state after all these untold millions of years
carries, at best, the promise of
ultimate extinction, or, which is worse, the threat of an endless and
meaningless repetition.
Nisargadatta:
What proof have you that your present state is beginningless and
endless? How were you
before you were born? How will you be after death? And of your present
state -- how much do you
know? You do not know even what was your condition before you woke up
this morning? You only
know a little of your present state and from it you draw conclusions for
all times and places. You
may be just dreaming and imagining your dream to be eternal.
Questioner:
Calling it a dream does not change the situation. I repeat my question:
what hope is left which
the eternity behind me could not fulfil? Why should my future be
different from my past?
Nisargadatta:
In your fevered state, you project a past and a future and take them to
be real. In fact, you know
only your present moment. Why not investigate what is now, instead of
questioning the imaginary
past and future? Your present state is neither beginningless nor
endless. If is over in a flash. Watch
carefully from where it comes and where it goes. You will soon discover
the timeless reality behind
it.
Questioner:
Why have I not done it before?
Nisargadatta:
Just as every wave subsides into the ocean, so does every moment return
to its source.
realisation consists in discovering the source and abiding there.
Questioner:
Who discovers?
Nisargadatta:
The mind discovers.
Questioner:
Does it find the answers?
Nisargadatta:
It finds that it is left without questions, that no answers are needed.
Questioner:
Being born is a fact. Dying is another fact. How do they appear to the
witness?
Nisargadatta:
A child was born; a man has died -- just events in the course of time.
Questioner:
Is there any progress in the witness? Does awareness evolve?
Nisargadatta:
What is seen may undergo many changes when the light of awareness is
focussed on it, but it
is the object that changes, not the light. Plants grow in sunlight, but
the sun does not grow. By
themselves both the body and the witness are motionless, but when
brought together in the mind,
both appear to move.
Questioner:
Yes, I can see that what moves and changes is the 'I am' only. Is the 'I
am' needed at all?
Nisargadatta:
Who needs it? It is there -- now. It had a beginning it will have an
end.
Questioner:
What remains when the ‘I am’ goes?
Nisargadatta:
What does not come and go -- remains. It is the ever greedy mind that
creates ideas of
progress and evolution towards perfection. It disturbs and talks of
order, destroys and seeks
security.
Questioner:
Is there progress in destiny, in karma?
Nisargadatta:
Karma is only a store of unspent energies, of unfulfilled desires and
fears not understood. The
store is being constantly replenished by new desires and fears. It need
not be so for ever.
Understand the root cause of your fears -- estrangement from yourself:
and of desires -- the longing
for the self, and your karma will dissolve like a dream. Between earth
and heaven life goes on.
Nothing is affected, only bodies grow and decay.
Questioner:
Between the person and the witness, what is the relation?
Nisargadatta:
There can be no relation between them because they are one. Don't
separate and don't look for
relationship.
Questioner:
If the seer and the seen are one, how did the separation occur?
Nisargadatta:
Fascinated by names and forms, which are by their very nature distinct
and diverse, you
distinguish what is natural and separate what is one. The world is rich
in diversity, but your feeling
strange and frightened is due to misapprehension. It is the body that is
in danger, not you.
Questioner:
I can see that the basic biological anxiety, the flight instinct, takes
many shapes and distorts my
thoughts and feelings. But how did this anxiety come into being?
Nisargadatta:
It is a mental state caused by the 'I-am-the-body' idea. It can be
removed by the contrary idea: 'I-
am-not-the-body'. Both the ideas are false, but one removes the other.
realise that no ideas are
your own, they all come to you from outside. You must think it all out
for yourself, become yourself
the object of your meditation. The effort to understand yourself is
Yoga. Be a Yogi, give your life to
it, brood, wonder, search, till you come to the root of error and to the
truth beyond the error.
Questioner:
In meditation, who meditates, the person or the witness?
Nisargadatta:
Meditation is a deliberate attempt to pierce into the higher states of
consciousness and finally
go beyond it. The art of meditation is the art of shifting the focus of
attention to ever subtler levels,
without losing one's grip on the levels left behind. In a way it is like
having death under control. One
begins with the lowest levels: social circumstances, customs and habits;
physical surroundings, the
posture and the breathing of the body, the senses, their sensations and
perceptions; the mind, its
thoughts and feelings; until the entire mechanism of personality is
grasped and firmly held. The final
stage of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond
the 'I-am-so-and-so', beyond
'so-l-am', beyond 'I-am-the-witness-only', beyond 'there-is', beyond all
ideas into the impersonally
personal pure being. But you must be energetic when you take to
meditation. It is definitely not a
part-time occupation. Limit your interests and activities to what is
needed for you and your
dependents' barest needs. Save all your energies and time for breaking
the wall your mind had built
around you. Believe me, you will not regret.
Questioner:
How do I come to know that my experience is universal?
Nisargadatta:
At the end of your meditation all is known directly, no proofs
whatsoever are required. Just as
every drop of the ocean carries the taste of the ocean, so does every
moment carry the taste of
eternity. Definitions and descriptions have their place as useful
incentives for further search, but you
must go beyond them into what is undefinable and indescribable, except
in negative terms.
After all, even universality and eternity are mere concepts, the
opposites of being place and time-
bound. Reality is not a concept, nor the manifestation of a concept. It
has nothing to do with
concepts. Concern yourself with your mind, remove its distortions and
impurities. Once you had the
taste of your own self, you will find it everywhere and at all times.
Therefore, it is so important that
you should come to it. Once you know it, you will never lose it.
But you must give yourself the opportunity through intensive, even
arduous meditation.
Questioner:
What exactly do you want me to do?
Nisargadatta:
Give your heart and mind to brooding over the 'I am', what is it, how is
it, what is its source, its
life, its meaning. It is very much like digging a well. You reject all
that is not water, till you reach the
life-giving spring.
Questioner:
How shall I know that I am moving in the right direction?
Nisargadatta:
By your progress in intentness, in clarity and devotion to the task.
Questioner:
We, Europeans, find it very difficult to keep quiet. The world is too
much with us.
Nisargadatta:
Oh, no, you are dreamers too. We differ only in the contents of our
dreams. You are after
perfection -- in the future. We are intent on finding it -- in the now.
The limited only is perfectible.
The unlimited is already perfect. You are perfect, only you don't know
it. Learn to know yourself and
you will discover wonders.
All you need is already within you, only you must approach your self
with reverence and love. Self-
condemnation and self-distrust are grievous errors. Your constant flight
from pain and search for
pleasure is a sign of love you bear for your self, all I plead with you
is this: make love of your self
perfect. Deny yourself nothing -- give your self infinity and eternity
and discover that you do not
need them; you are beyond.

I
AM THAT

Dialogues
of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

81.
Root Cause of Fear

Nisargadatta:

Where do you come from?

Questioner:

I am from the United States, but I live mostly in Europe. To India I
came recently. I was

in
Rishikesh, in two Ashrams. I was taught meditation and breathing.

Nisargadatta:

How long were you there?

Questioner:

Eight days in one, six days in another. I was not happy there and I
left. Then for three weeks I

was
with the Tibetan Lamas. But they were all wrapped up in formulas and
rituals.

Nisargadatta:

And what was the net result of it all?

Questioner:

Definitely there was an increase of energy. But before I left for
Rishikesh, I did some fasting

and
dieting at a Nature Cure Sanatorium at Pudukkotai in South India. It
has done me enormous

good.

Nisargadatta:

Maybe the access of energy was due to better health.

Questioner:

I cannot say. But as a result of all these attempts some fires
started burning in various places in

my
body and I heard chants and voices where there were none.

Nisargadatta:

And what are you after now?

Questioner:

Well, what are we all after? Some truth, some inner certainty, some
real happiness. In the

various
schools of self-realisation there is so much talk of awareness, that
one ends with the

impression
that awareness itself is the supreme reality. Is it so? The body is
looked after by the

brain,
the brain is illumined by consciousness; awareness watches over
consciousness; is there

anything
beyond awareness?

Nisargadatta:

How do you know that you are aware?

Questioner:

I feel that I am. I cannot express it otherwise.

Nisargadatta:

When you follow it up carefully from brain through consciousness to
awareness, you find that

the
sense of duality persists. When you go beyond awareness, there is a
state of non-duality, in

which
there is no cognition, only pure being, which may be as well called
non-being, if by being you

mean
being something in particular.

Questioner:

What you call pure being is it universal being, being everything?

Nisargadatta:

Everything implies a collection of particulars. In pure being the
very idea of the particular is

absent.

Questioner:

Is there any relationship between pure being and particular being?

Nisargadatta:

What relationship can there be between what is and what merely
appears to be? Is there any

relationship
between the ocean and its waves? The real enables the unreal to
appear and causes it

to
disappear. the succession of transient moments creates the illusion
of time, but the timeless

reality
of pure being is not in movement, for all movement requires a
motionless background. It is

itself
the background. Once you have found it in yourself, you know that
you had never lost that

independent
being, independent of all divisions and separations. But don't look
for it in

consciousness,
you will not find it there. Don't look for it anywhere, for nothing
contains it. On the

contrary,
it contains everything and manifests everything. It is like the
daylight that makes

everything
visible while itself remaining invisible.

Questioner:

Sir, of what use to me is your telling me that reality cannot be
found in consciousness? Where

else
am I to look for it? How do you apprehend it?

Nisargadatta:

It is quite simple. If I ask you what is the taste of your mouth all
you can do is to say: it is neither

sweet
nor bitter, nor sour nor astringent; it is what remains when all
these tastes are not. Similarly,

when
all distinctions and reactions are no more, what remains is reality,
simple and solid.

Questioner:

All that I understand is that I am in the grip of a beginningless
illusion. And I do not see how it

can
come to an end. If it could, it would -- long ago. I must have had
as many opportunities in the

past
as I shall have in the future. What could not happen cannot happen.
Or, if it did, it could not

last.
Our very deplorable state after all these untold millions of years
carries, at best, the promise of

ultimate
extinction, or, which is worse, the threat of an endless and
meaningless repetition.

Nisargadatta:

What proof have you that your present state is beginningless and
endless? How were you

before
you were born? How will you be after death? And of your present
state -- how much do you

know?
You do not know even what was your condition before you woke up this
morning? You only

know
a little of your present state and from it you draw conclusions for
all times and places. You

may
be just dreaming and imagining your dream to be eternal.

Questioner:

Calling it a dream does not change the situation. I repeat my
question: what hope is left which

the
eternity behind me could not fulfil? Why should my future be
different from my past?

Nisargadatta:

In your fevered state, you project a past and a future and take them
to be real. In fact, you know

only
your present moment. Why not investigate what is now, instead of
questioning the imaginary

past
and future? Your present state is neither beginningless nor endless.
If is over in a flash. Watch

carefully
from where it comes and where it goes. You will soon discover the
timeless reality behind

it.

Questioner:

Why have I not done it before?

Nisargadatta:

Just as every wave subsides into the ocean, so does every moment
return to its source.

realisation
consists in discovering the source and abiding there.

Questioner:

Who discovers?

Nisargadatta:

The mind discovers.

Questioner:

Does it find the answers?

Nisargadatta:

It finds that it is left without questions, that no answers are
needed.

Questioner:

Being born is a fact. Dying is another fact. How do they appear to
the witness?

Nisargadatta:

A child was born; a man has died -- just events in the course of
time.

Questioner:

Is there any progress in the witness? Does awareness evolve?

Nisargadatta:

What is seen may undergo many changes when the light of awareness is
focussed on it, but it

is
the object that changes, not the light. Plants grow in sunlight, but
the sun does not grow. By

themselves
both the body and the witness are motionless, but when brought
together in the mind,

both
appear to move.

Questioner:

Yes, I can see that what moves and changes is the 'I am' only. Is
the 'I am' needed at all?

Nisargadatta:

Who needs it? It is there -- now. It had a beginning it will have an
end.

Questioner:

What remains when the ‘I am’ goes?

Nisargadatta:

What does not come and go -- remains. It is the ever greedy mind
that creates ideas of

progress
and evolution towards perfection. It disturbs and talks of order,
destroys and seeks

security.

Questioner:

Is there progress in destiny, in karma?

Nisargadatta:

Karma
is only a store of unspent energies, of unfulfilled desires and
fears not understood. The

store
is being constantly replenished by new desires and fears. It need
not be so for ever.

Understand
the root cause of your fears -- estrangement from yourself: and of
desires -- the longing

for
the self, and your karma will dissolve like a dream. Between earth
and heaven life goes on.

Nothing
is affected, only bodies grow and decay.

Questioner:

Between the person and the witness, what is the relation?

Nisargadatta:

There can be no relation between them because they are one. Don't
separate and don't look for

relationship.

Questioner:

If the seer and the seen are one, how did the separation occur?

Nisargadatta:

Fascinated by names and forms, which are by their very nature
distinct and diverse, you

distinguish
what is natural and separate what is one. The world is rich in
diversity, but your feeling

strange
and frightened is due to misapprehension. It is the body that is in
danger, not you.

Questioner:

I can see that the basic biological anxiety, the flight instinct,
takes many shapes and distorts my

thoughts
and feelings. But how did this anxiety come into being?

Nisargadatta:

It is a mental state caused by the 'I-am-the-body' idea. It can be
removed by the contrary idea: 'I-

am-not-the-body'.
Both the ideas are false, but one removes the other. realise that no
ideas are

your
own, they all come to you from outside. You must think it all out
for yourself, become yourself

the
object of your meditation. The effort to understand yourself is
Yoga. Be a Yogi, give your life to

it,
brood, wonder, search, till you come to the root of error and to the
truth beyond the error.

Questioner:

In meditation, who meditates, the person or the witness?

Nisargadatta:

Meditation is a deliberate attempt to pierce into the higher states
of consciousness and finally

go
beyond it. The art of meditation is the art of shifting the focus of
attention to ever subtler levels,

without
losing one's grip on the levels left behind. In a way it is like
having death under control. One

begins
with the lowest levels: social circumstances, customs and habits;
physical surroundings, the

posture
and the breathing of the body, the senses, their sensations and
perceptions; the mind, its

thoughts
and feelings; until the entire mechanism of personality is grasped
and firmly held. The final

stage
of meditation is reached when the sense of identity goes beyond the
'I-am-so-and-so', beyond